MCAT scores - advice for me?

[Jejunum]

Hey all; just got my mcat scores - overall of 30 - 7 bio 🙁, 12 verbal, 11 physical sciences (im a chem e btw)

any ones out there got any advice for me now? will these scores help me get into med school or should I be planning on retaking the MCAT (yes GPA,research etc counts too). Any general advice?


thanks ATOT

 

[Spoooon]

Isn't 30 kind of considered the minimum score you'd want to get? Meaning anything below means you should automatically retake the test?

 

[Jejunum]

Originally posted by: Spoooon
Isn't 30 kind of considered the minimum score you'd want to get? Meaning anything below means you should automatically retake the test?

well 30 is 80th percentile...so no! im looking for people that have taken mcats, people that have gone to med school; or know anything about the admissions process

 

[glen]

30 is fine IMHO.
It is fine for most medical schools.
What matters now is your "story" as it comes across in your CV, essay, and interviews.

Urban Legends are widely believed, despite being completely untrue and obviously preposterous.
This gives you an idea how important stories are to us (humans).
In some situations, "story" content is at least, if not more important to us than truth or factual evidence.

Heck, what do I know?
I believe folks should go to college for an education, NOT to "get a job."
I tend think Joseph Campbell is more helpful for getting into medical school than biology.

 

[Jejunum]

bump for the evening crowd

I tend think Joseph Campbell is more helpful for getting into medical school than biology.

uh; i have no idea what this expression means...ill google it here in a minute - but is this like sommon common expressino ive never heard of?

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: Jejunum
Hey all; just got my mcat scores - overall of 30 - 7 bio 🙁, 12 verbal, 11 physical sciences (im a chem e btw)

any ones out there got any advice for me now? will these scores help me get into med school or should I be planning on retaking the MCAT (yes GPA,research etc counts too). Any general advice?


thanks ATOT

yes you should retake. i'm guessing you got your results today from aug mcat. anyhow you shouldn't be applying this cycle, because of your score, and it's late anyhow (which won't be offset with a high mcat score. the only time lateness doesn't really matter). so you should take next april's mcat.

although it's debateable how important each section is, no one disputes that bio will be looked upon more heavily than the other two. the problem with your score is not only that bio was weakest, but that it is a low score. some schools will automatically filter you out and not send secondaries to you based on bio score.

i recommend not applying late and not applying with a low score to try and see if you get in, thinking you'll retake mcat and reapply if it fails. i've seen this happen and it doesn't work out well, and the people generally feel adcoms don't look favorably upon them compared to first time applicants.

what year of college are you in? what's your gpa? what clinical experiences do you have? can you write a unique and insightful personal statement?

 

[boyRacer]

my friends got 30s too... 🙁

 

[mjquilly]

FOCKER!!!!!

 

Originally posted by: mjquilly
FOCKER!!!!!

Hahahha, just what i was thinking!

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: boyRacer
my friends got 30s too... 🙁

why the sad face? if it was 10's across the board there's nothing wrong with that. it's 80th percentile which is good enough for most medical schools. the average mcat score for students who matriculate is ~29.7 the average mcat score per school ranges from 30 to 34. harvard is 31 i think. that's average so since median is usually close to average, half did better and half did worse. a 30 is good enough score. similar to getting 1200 on SAT or 220 on USMLE-1.

but again, why the sad face?

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: draggoon01

Originally posted by: boyRacer
my friends got 30s too... 🙁

why the sad face? if it was 10's across the board there's nothing wrong with that. it's 80th percentile which is good enough for most medical schools. the average mcat score for students who matriculate is ~29.7 the average mcat score per school ranges from 30 to 34. that's average so since median is usually close to average, half did better and half did worse. a 30 is good enough score. similar to getting 1200 on SAT.

but again, why the sad face?

thats not what i'm hearing from them... i was a bio major before but switched to EE after my first year... i probably would've been in the same boat. i'm sure 30 will get you somewhere... although it does knock some schools out of your choices i guess. my friends are basically trying to get as close to 40 as they can. i'm not sure if they're going to retake it though...

 

[glen]

Originally posted by: Jejunum
bump for the evening crowd

I tend think Joseph Campbell is more helpful for getting into medical school than biology.

uh; i have no idea what this expression means...ill google it here in a minute - but is this like sommon common expressino ive never heard of?

Joseph Campbell wrote about hero archetypes.
Everyone knows these archetypes no matter what their age, history, or culture.
The ?hero? is NOT the one who is the most obvious, biggest, strongest, best trained, etc?

Examples:
Yoda
Jesus
Buddha
Robin Hood

The ?Hero? pushes past physical limits, because he has more ?mojo? than the anti-hero.

Examples:
Yoda?s mojo Force
Jesus?s mojo God
Buddah?s mojo God/Universe
Robin Hood?s mojo ?Justice?

The student who gets into medical school is NOT always the one with the highest MCAT, GPA, prestigious school, biology major, etc?

The ?story? of your life as you present it in your CV, essay, and interviews, will touch upon archetypes that the admissions people have deep in their subconscious. So, present yourself as though you are Yoda, (not Darth Vader), Jesus, (not the Roman Army), Robin Hood, (not the Monarchy).

 

[aolsuxs]

I've been told its by my pre med advisors thats its extremly looked down upon when retaking the MCAT and its not like the SATs, since it has a rather large significance and one should have prepared more. What year are you? If you took it in August I thought you would be applying now.

 

[ed21x]

Princeton Review told me that an overall score of 30 is fine if the subject your hurting on most is verbal. So all in all, you did well, but because colleges look most heavily on Bio and physical sciences (chem), it would be a good idea to take the test again after some studying. With such a low bio score, it shouldn't be that hard to pull it up significantly ( to at least a 10), and seeing as how you got fairly decent scores on all the other sections, you should be able to work that score up to a really nice number 🙂

oh by the way, I highly recommend Princeton Review for MCAT. It costed me around $2500 for their 6 month course, but they really teach you all you need to know.

good luck,

 

[Jejunum]

Princeton Review told me that an overall score of 30 is fine if the subject your hurting on most is verbal. So all in all, you did well, but because colleges look most heavily on Bio and physical sciences (chem), it would be a good idea to take the test again after some studying. With such a low bio score, it shouldn't be that hard to pull it up significantly ( to at least a 10), and seeing as how you got fairly decent scores on all the other sections, you should be able to work that score up to a really nice number 🙂

took Kaplan :/ - hard to do engineering and focus on other stuff...but they said verbal was really important. one relearns all the science in med school anyways.

I've been told its by my pre med advisors thats its extremly looked down upon when retaking the MCAT and its not like the SATs, since it has a rather large significance and one should have prepared more. What year are you? If you took it in August I thought you would be applying now.

4th yr / 5 yrs (5 yr program) engineer. i should apply next april right? (so i have one more opportunity to take the mcat)